Chapter 17 Chapter Eight Part Two - Azadou
“In the name of the cosmos! Is your inner monologue always this dreary?” I hear a familiar voice groan in exasperation, taking me by surprise and filling me with disgust.
I glance behind me to see none other than the irksome Merlos, sitting high up on a tree branch above me, staring down at me with irritation etched onto her face.
“Keep out of my mind and we won’t have a problem,” I snark, glowering at her with disdain.
“For someone with all the power of the universe at their fingertips, you sure love to bitch. Far more than me,” she quips.
My lip twitches into a sneer of its own accord as I cross my arms over my chest, her very presence filling me with an insatiable desire to rip out her entrails. Assuming she has any…only one way to find out. I launch myself at her with celestial speed, hand outstretched, ready to grip and crush her dainty neck until I feel her windpipe turn to dust in my hand. I smirk a malevolent smirk at her when my hand locks around her throat, the excitement of victory rushing through me as I hover in the air and begin to squeeze her neck with all my strength.
“Oh Azadou,” she tuts, a sly smile creeping up her face as her piercing silver eyes begin to flare.
I frown in confusion when her throat immediately resists my grasp as if reinforced with celestial steel. I feel my own eyes flare as I squeeze with all my might and at this, her smile darkens. Slowly black tendrils begin to creep up my fingers and move up my hand. I try to withdraw my hand only to find it locked in position.
“What are you doing?” I hiss at her.
Panic and frustration rush to the front of my mind as a coldness more chilling and vacant than anything I can conjure begins to creep up my flesh and penetrate deep into my being. The sensation intensifies as I watch in horror and dread beyond human comprehension as my fingers are slowly absorbed into Merlos’ neck. I roar in a rage, yanking and tugging with all my strength as sparks of purple electricity emit from my body.
Suddenly the tendrils disappear mid-yank, the force of it causing me to be propelled back down to the Earth and crash into the ground. I take slow, confused and annoyed breaths as the air is filled with a mocking chuckle. I look up and glare at the source of the laughter.
“If I thought taking you on in a fight would remotely make me break a sweat, I’d take you on for pure entertainment value. Alas, the lack of a challenge bores me,” Merlos mocks apathetically.
“And here I thought you were the one God whose incessant blather I wouldn’t have to suffer through. How wrong I was,” I sass in aggravation, rising to my feet and dusting myself off.
“What that shining creature sees in you is a complete mystery to me,” she mutters, shaking her head in bewilderment.
My eyes narrow at her words. “Explain,” I demand.
Merlos rises from the branch she’s perched on and begins to walk to me as if stepping down a flight of invisible stairs. Always a dramatic flare with this one. Between her and Ezillus I can’t tell who is worse. It doesn’t matter. I hate them both equally.
“Don’t get me wrong, I understand why you’re as morose as you are but for such a beacon of light to bother with it is true martyrdom. Bond or no bond,” she chortles, the only one amused by her words.
“Sounds to me like Zarseti’s magic has much to answer for.”
Merlos rolls her eyes dramatically. “I don’t care to concern myself with the affections of others, but from what I’ve observed, most people happily give themselves over to Zarseti’s bond, but there are many who resist it. Some of those give in eventually while others reject it altogether. Orenda could have been done with her bond to you like that,” she says, snapping her fingers for emphasis. “But she’s a being of light and they are notoriously tenacious, so I can understand why the thought of rejection is so abhorrent to her.”
“Get to the fucking point,” I seethe through gritted teeth, becoming more frustrated by the second by Merlos’ unwelcome presence and irritating voice.
With a twinkle in her silver eyes, Merlos begins to circle me. “I understand why Orenda has not rejected you, but the better question is…” She pauses behind me, leaning uncomfortably close to my ear until I feel her breath tickle my flesh. “Why haven’t you rejected her?” she questions, a sly smile clear as a bell in her voice.
Her words stop me short, all frustrations of our interaction evaporating as her question repeats itself over and over and yet not a single answer comes to me.
Merlos chuckles darkly. “That certainly took the wind out of your sails.” She comes to stand in front of me, crossing her arms over her chest with a victorious smirk on her face. “You claim Zarseti’s gift is a vile curse placed upon you that you wish to be free of. The fastest way to be free of it is to reject your animai. And yet…” She cocks her head to the side. “Bonded you remain.”
I swallow down the saliva building in my mouth and tasting like acid as I clench my molars together, the pressure threatening to grind them into dust.
“I’d forgotten how much paranoia resided inside Jartre’s malice. As for myself, I lean more towards pronoia,” she chirps. “You can condemn every last one of us until you run out of breath Azadou, but you are the master of your own destiny. One of these days you’re going to have to realise that the only God cursing you is you. So go ahead, reject her and be free!” she exclaims, thrusting her hands out ceremoniously. “Or accept the fact that you don’t actually want to be free,” she smirks only to disappear in the blink of an eye.
A scream of undiluted rage and hatred erupts from me, leaving not a single echo in its wake as I remain cloaked. The sound of my rage heard only to my ears and acting as the perfect ironic metaphor. I thought Merlos’ visit would just be a nuisance like any other visit from the Gods but instead, her words have struck deeper than the others and shaken me to the depths of my being.
I have had the power to free myself of this God-forsaken bond all this time?!
As I mull that over, I try to convince myself that I had no clue but there is a small, buried part of me feebly whispering that I knew all along. But if I knew, why did I not act? Why would I choose to suffer and be plagued all this time when I could have done away with it altogether? No, there has to be more at play here. Merlos is an original God, I can’t trust a single syllable that leaves her lips. For all I know her long existence has made her perpetually bored, and she’s decided that I am her new source of entertainment. But I will be no God’s toy.
Now that I know what needs to be done, I shall do it. I shall reject this infuriating avifauna and be done with it. I will finally be free. As I let the sound of the universe bring clarity to my mind I begin to understand this rejection process better and how I must go about it. I will wait until she is alone. If I do this while her ‘brother’ is present it will result in a fight. I could kill him with ease, but that would alert that cunt Jartre and as much as I would love to end both our lives, rejection will likely weaken me, which means he would be able to overpower me and prevent me from doing any damage to either of us. So, the only course of action is to wait until she is alone. I will reject her and force her to accept it and then I will be one step closer to being free from this loathsome existence.